Introduction To Food Photography

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Introduction to food photography eat&twitt by @gkamin

description

a presentation I gave at the #fiddup1 eat&twitt @forelinTLV

Transcript of Introduction To Food Photography

Page 1: Introduction To Food Photography

Introduction to food photographyeat&twitt

by @gkamin

Page 2: Introduction To Food Photography

What's so special 'bout food photography?

● Art● Which makes us DO things:

● Feel hunger● Cook● Buy a cook book● Buy a product at the supermarket● Order a dish (although we don't like restaurants with

pix in their menus, but for takeaway and website it's ok ;)

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What's so special 'bout food photography?

● Team work:● Photographer● Chef● Food stylist● Prop stylist● Client

● Combines studio and outdoors work● Requires understanding of light and reflections.● Requires working fast at times (we don't want that ice-cream melting,

don't we?)● Requires improvisation skills

● You get to eat the stuff!

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How they used to do it...

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How things are done today - angle

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How things are done today - tilt

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How things are done today – less is more

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How things are done today – DOF

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How things are done today – colors

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How things are done today – raw

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How things are done today – location

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Light in food photography

● Photography (esp. In the studio) is all about understanding light.● Size of light source● Distance from subject● Diffusing light● Reflections

● Food looks best under natural day light!● Shoot next to a window with indirect sunlight (or with a curtain)

● Don't use an on-camera flash● Make sure the light doesn't come from behind you

● Side light or backlight work best● Use a reflector if you need to balance lighting and remove shadows

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Light in food photography

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Stuff to keep in mind when shooting food

● Tell a story – make series of pictures

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Stuff to keep in mind when shooting food

● Think like a magazine editor – for a piece you'll need:● A cover – leave room for logo and text● A spread – at least one great landscape shot● Some portraits● Don't forget to tell the story

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Rules were meant to be broken

● Use harsh lights and shadows for drama

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Rules were meant to be broken

● Use harsh lights and shadows for some drama

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Rules were meant to be broken

● Go back high – shoot from above

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Rules were meant to be broken

● Go wild

scanwiches.com

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Rules were meant to be broken

● Shoot no food at all

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Shooting drinks

● Use back light and improvise light tables● Add some water to make more transparent

http://www.diyphotography.net/light-up-the-floor-a-floor-lit-table-top-studio-project

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Shooting wine

vs.

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Shooting wine

vs.

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Shooting wine

vs.

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Shooting wine

● Avoid spot lighting – creates a light dot on bottle

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Shooting wine

● Make sure you're not reflecting in the bottle

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Shooting wine

● What's with this background?

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Shooting wine

● Avoid multiple light sources – 2 are enough

No fingerprints on the bottle please

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Shooting wine

● Make sure you get some light on the bottle

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Shooting wine

● Label should be clear, with no harsh lights or shadows on it

● Use a strip light to create that reflection following the bottle's height● http://www.diyphotography.net/the-diy-strip-light

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Where to shoot?

● Restraurants● Go inside the kitchen or sit on the bar – shoot

where the action is!

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Where to shoot?

● Restraurants

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Where to shoot?

● Restraurants

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Where to shoot?

● Restraurants

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Where to shoot?

● Restraurants – try to grasp the place's "feel"

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Where to shoot?

● Markets – full of color

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Where to shoot?

● Markets – full of people

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Where to shoot?

● Markets – full of action

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Where to shoot?

● The outdoors – camping, hiking, etc.

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Where to shoot?

● The outdoors – camping, hiking, etc.

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Where to shoot?

● Factory

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Where to shoot?

● Winery

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Where to shoot?

● At your butcher's

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Where to shoot?

● Any place food is involved:● The street● Weddings (but don't shoot people eating – they

don't like it, and it's not nice)● When you travel – you're usually less shy when

approaching people, the subjects are more likely to cooperate, and you get to see stuff you don't have at home

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Shooting at home

● Basically, you don't need anything special...

...but

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Shooting at home

● You better get some props● Get some stuff from IKEA or something● Bristol paper and other backgrounds

● Shoot on different surfaces● Wood● Floor● Marble● Fabric● Glass

● Get a reflector or improvise one

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Shooting at home

● Shoot the process

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Shooting at home

● Props

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Stuff that comes in handy

● Sprayer

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Stuff that comes in handy

● Keep your hands free – use a tripod and a professional fork holder

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Stuff that comes in handy

● Get some daylight at night

Lowel Ego comes with 5500K bulbs - http://www.lowel.com/ego/

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Stuff that comes in handy

● Get some daylight at night

Lowel Ego comes with 5500K bulbs - http://www.lowel.com/ego/

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Pay attention to the background

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Where can I learn more?

●Courses – Weiner, Lailah●Web resources

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Where should I go for inspiration?

● Donna Hay

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Where should I go for inspiration?

● Magazines● Cook books● Food photographers' websites

● The israelis:– Nelli Sheffer - www.nellisheffer.com– Danya Weiner - www.danyaphoto.com– Daniel Lailah - www.dlp.co.il

● Recipe websites● http://www.myrecipes.com/recipes/● http://www.cookstr.com/

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Where should I go for inspiration?

● Blogs – for example – Lara Ferroni● gallery: http://platesandpacks.com● website: http://cookandeat.com/● Blog + challenge: http://stilllifewith.com/● twitter: @StillLifeWith

● Others:● Cookbook catchall: http://www.cookbookcatchall.blogspot.com/● Mattbites: http://mattbites.com/

● Flickr groups● Food photography club, Professional looking food photography,

Food porn, etc.

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thanksIt's been a pleasure...

Most pictures in this presentations belong to @gkamin and are fully copyrighted.